Strange Country
292 episodes - English - Latest episode: 13 days ago - ★★★ - 170 ratingsWelcome to Strange Country, a podcast devoted to bizarre, surreal and extraordinary stories that make America the weird place it is. Co-hosts Kelly and Beth are former newspaper reporters turned school librarians who have always had a soft spot for a good story--the stranger the better. Discover the first woman to survive a barrel ride over Niagara Falls and the man who invented “complex marriage” in one of the most successful utopian experiments. Things get weird pretty quickly around here.
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Episodes
Strange Country Ep. 183: Bobby Dunbar
March 04, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 72.1 MBIn 1912, four-year-old Bobby Dunbar went missing on a family vacation only to turn up nine months later in nearby Mississippi. Or did he? Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about this odd tale of a boy with two mothers claiming him as their son, and the weirdo lurkers and gawkers that we're all now descended from who watched the whole thing with maws gaping wide open. New Strange Country tagline: We've always been garbage. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite ...
Strange Country Ep.182: Martha Mitchell
February 25, 2021 11:00 - 49 minutes - 56.4 MBWomen have been labeled crazy in an effort to shut them up. In the 1970s, the label stuck to Martha Mitchell. Martha's husband John Mitchell headed up Nixon's reelection campaign. Richard Nixon was definitely NOT crazy. He was totally cool in a paranoid, spying, enemy-listing kind of way. Martha knew one of the Watergate burglars was connected to the campaign and that her husband lied about it. Strange Country co-hosts talk about this woman lost to history and what would happen if women actu...
Strange Country Ep. 181: Eartha Kitt
February 18, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 75.7 MBKelly and Beth speak our truth each week on Strange Country and it feels so good. It may take us a while, meandering through details of our lives as mothers, women in our 40s, and librarians, but we get there eventually, dear Dashhounds. Thanks for listening and supporting that journey each week. This week we give honor to the podcast space that let’s us speak our truth and wish singer and actress Eartha Kitt,could have had her own podcast. Instead she had to eat clam bisque with the fancy-p...
Strange Country Ep. 180: Georgia Guidestones
February 11, 2021 11:00 - 52 minutes - 60.8 MBIf you could leave instructions for the survivors of the apocalypse, what would you say? If you need some suggestions, you could always look to the Georgia Guidestones, a monument built in 1980 by a group of unidentified "loyal Americans who love God." They share their tips in the style of a David Letterman Top 10 list. Some like the stones for their tourist draw, others think it's the Ten Commandments of the Antichrist. Join Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly as they examine these stone...
Strange Country Ep.179: Body Snatchers
February 04, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 69.4 MBIn the days before the board game Operation or Play Doh's dentist head, doctors needed something to hone their knowledge of the human anatomy. So they hired people to bring them dead bodies dug up fresh from the graveyards. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about these night doctors and resurrectionists who gave a new meaning to the phrase the big sleep. You might want to make yourself a stiff drink before tuning in. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your ...
Strange Country Ep. 178: Woman's Commonweatlh of Belton
January 28, 2021 11:00 - 51 minutes - 59.3 MBReaders and Dash Hounds we are into 2021 and still here as Americans, as women, friends, and your loving weekly podcasters! This week’s show highlights the story of one of the first women’s shelters in Texas, and how it became a successful hub and utopia for women who otherwise would have been stuck. How did it work? Easy peasy lemon squeazy—Sanctification! God shows up in your dreams and simply says you don’t have to put up with this shit anymore! Martha McWhirter led the way. Join us this ...
Strange Country Ep. 177: Qanon
January 21, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 73.7 MBIf you ever encountered someone who told you to "do the research" after that person posted something beyond delusional then you're likely communicating with someone in the Qanon conspiracy. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly break down the plan, the storm, the crumbs, the delusions, and lament the future of our country where so many live in a different reality. As Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Theme music: Big White Lie by ...
Strange Country Ep. 176: On the Edge
January 14, 2021 11:00 - 54 minutes - 62.3 MBReaders we are reeling, as you probably are, after watching events at our nation’s Capitol. So bear with Beth and Kelly because it will take a little time and interruption of subjects to get to the heart of today’s podcast- Flat Earthers. We want to make sure we all agree here; planet earth is a round wonder. Right?! Of course. And the notion that it is flat is well, pick up one of those well researched ham-hands books and see for yourself. Covefe. Or something. We love you. Stay smart, stay...
Strange Country Ep. 175: Orgone Energy
January 07, 2021 11:00 - 59 minutes - 68 MBGet out your cloudbuster and strap into your orgone accumulator because it's time to talk about the sexual electricity that courses through the sky. Psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich discovered this energy after studying specimens of milk steak under a microscope. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about Reich's claims that orgone could cure cancer and bone spurs and how it was snapped up by members of the Beat Generation so they could, well, beat off. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Ca...
Strange Country Ep. 174: Love Has Won
December 31, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 84.7 MBDon’t give up hope! That is the tagline for 2021 and the intention of lovehaswon- a religion that is really a tax-exempt cult currently operating and looking for new members (read $). Beth and Kelly will chat about why people join cults, why Beth is ready to sign up, and why you really should question everything. Find out if you are in fact already part of the Strange Country cult. If so please send money now! Peace out 2020!! Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite Your S...
Strange Country Ep 173: War on Christmas
December 24, 2020 11:00 - 52 minutes - 60.8 MBYou better deck the halls with boughs of barbed wire because we are in the midst of war, dash hounds. Trees are being maligned as "holiday trees" and to-go cups are strangely under-decorated to the point where Jesus doesn't even want to attend his own party. And he can't!! Because Dr. Fauci forbids it. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about the never-ending war on Christmas led by the Falafel General Bill O'Reilly and his army of Fox Newhounds. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Ca...
Strange Country Ep.172: 1898 Wilmington Coup
December 17, 2020 11:00 - 59 minutes - 68.1 MBWhat is about losers and coups? While we battle our current takedown of democracy, residents of Wilmington, N.C, dealt with the real thing in 1898. Angry over the loss of the war and the meager rights gained by black men, Democrats gunned down black residents and took control away from the rightly elected. And no traitor suffered any consequence. Even 100 years later, whites didn't feel it was their place to say "Whoops, my bad." Strange country indeed. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast...
Strange Country Ep. 171: Teddy's Pet Menagerie
December 10, 2020 11:00 - 47 minutes - 54.5 MBStrange Country Readers: always and forever you know we are here for you, especially in this time of universal sadness. But sadly you cannot pet us. Actually it is better that way- can you imagine? Don’t. Instead we suggest the importance of animals and pets during this bleak winter. A lesson we take from the Roosevelt family who lived in the White House from 1901- 1909 with 6 kids and 40 pets! Those animals include cats and dogs of course, but a badger and maccaw as well. If you aren’t a pe...
Strange Country Ep. 170: Facilitated Communication
December 03, 2020 11:00 - 57 minutes - 65.8 MBIn the early '90s, facilitated communication was the big breakthrough. It was finally a way for nonverbal people to communicate their innermost thoughts while getting an assist from a facilitator. But then it started to become more clear that it was the facilitator who was actually communicating, and communicating some horrific allegations of sexual abuse, leading many upstanding organizations to denounce facilitated communication as a pseudoscience. Yet it still gets practiced. In this epis...
Strange Country Ep.169: Mollie Fancher
November 26, 2020 11:00 - 54 minutes - 63.1 MBHappy Turkey Lurkey Day Dash Hounds! Beth and Kelly hope you are just as miserable as they are eating your meal alone in a closet this Covidsgiving. Or not at all. This week’s tale of truth is about Mollie Fancher - a fasting girl of the Victorian Er-ah who thought it would be cool to not eat. For years. And brag all about it. And other women did too because food- ew. We will chat about the fact that there is just too much sex in food, and lots of holiness in starvation. And like all the hea...
Strange Country Ep.168: Anthony Godby Johnson
November 19, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 69 MBHey Dash Hounds, it might be helpful to grab a pen, some paper, some alcohol as Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly take you on the winding, confusing tale of Anthony Godby Johnson. In the early 1990s, Johnson was or was not a teen who was or was not abused who did or did not write a memoir about him suffering or not suffering from AIDS. Understand? Luckily, Beth and Kelly's newest intern is here to help, and get in a few zingers. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cit...
Strange Country Ep. 167: Project Fantasia
November 12, 2020 11:00 - 56 minutes - 64.5 MBIn ep. 167 of Strange Country, we learn the answer to: What does the fox say? Well, not really, but cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about the Office of Strategic Services' "illuminating" plan to demoralize the Japanese during World War II. It's a plan that is as cunning as a fox, if you get our drift. You don't? Yeah, we don't either. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite Your Sources: “Ashiarai Yashiki, the Giant Foot of Doom.” Neatorama, 27 Mar. 2018, www.neatorama.com/2...
Strange Country Ep. 166: Vampire Cult Killings
November 05, 2020 11:00 - 59 minutes - 68.2 MBThis Strange Country episode doesn't suck. And that is the solid comedy gold to expect as you listen to Beth and Kelly try not to talk about the election that hasn't happened as they recorded but has happened when this airs. The cortisol is definitely traipsing through their 60,000 mile-long circulatory systems. Oh, and vampires, yes, they're talking about bloodsuckers who also can suck your energy away. Like this election. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sour...
Strange Country Ep. 165: Spooky Stacks
October 29, 2020 10:00 - 45 minutes - 52.6 MBIn today's episode, Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly unmask Melvil "John" Dewey, question whether or not they are actually ghosts making a ghost podcast, and tell some scary stories set in libraries. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite Your Sources Dude: Smart, Gil. 2 Authors Peg Lancaster Native as Murderer of 19 Year0Old Penn State Student in 1969. Lancaster Online.com Aug. 2011. https://lancasteronline.com/news/2-authors-peg-lancaster-native-as-mystery-murd...
Strange Country Ep. 164: Slender Man
October 22, 2020 10:00 - 53 minutes - 61.1 MBSlender Man was a boogyman birthed on the Internet. It was a crowd-sourced story, brought to life by wikis and youtube. But two 12-year-old girls took the fantasy too far by planning out the stabbing of another friend as a sacrifice to the mythical character. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about the harshness of adolescence, the power of storytelling and how sticky it must be under Jeffrey Toobin's desk. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: ...
Strange Country Ep. 163: The Crescent and The Cecil hotels
October 15, 2020 10:00 - 41 minutes - 47.4 MBMany hotels boast their ghosts, but for these two hotels, reality is scarier than the supernatural. Join Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly as they talk about the strange tales of quack Dr. Norman Baker and the mysterious death Elisa Lam. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: Al-Samarrai, Noor. “Found: A Quack's Medicine Bottles, Buried Behind a Haunted Hotel.” Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 17 Apr. 2019, www.atlasobscura.com/articles/crescent-hotel-...
Strange Country Ep. 162: Witches Bitches
October 08, 2020 10:00 - 53 minutes - 61.2 MBSomething is brewing this October, and it is Kelly and Beth getting witchy--or not. The reality is, Beth does not fully believe in witches. Kelly is on the fence, or broom. There are witches, and stories of witches, and we will do our best to sum them up and let you decide. This October Dear Dash Hounds. Thank you always for listening, but especially now when the wind is chilly and the seasons are turning, and the president is sick. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite ...
Strange Country Ep 161: Patriotic Education
October 01, 2020 10:00 - 52 minutes - 59.8 MBGet out your flag and wrap yourself in it because it's time for a little patriotic education. Donald Trump's desire to rewrite history is just a rehash of the past when other organizations clamored to control what kids learned in school. Join Beth and Kelly as they sing patriotic songs and deny reality to make you fall in love with America all over again. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: Breed, Allen G. “'The Lost Cause': the Women's Group Fighting f...
Strange Country Ep.160: Surviving a Pandemic
September 24, 2020 10:00 - 56 minutes - 64.8 MBHeya there Dear Dash Hounds. Are you taking your daily dose of bleach? If you paused on that suggestion on how to survive this terrible pandemic of 2020, you may appreciate stories of survival from the other pandemic of 1918. It’s funny, (but it isn’t) how that terrible virus was downplayed by politicians, killed an unknown number of people, and had people up in arms about their right to wear or not wear a mask. Strange Country, isn’t it? Listen as Beth and Kelly survive another week through...
Strange Country Ep. 159: Minik Wallace
September 17, 2020 10:00 - 48 minutes - 55.8 MBYou know how things are terrible? Well this should give you comfort--things have always been terrible. Settle in, dear dash hounds, as Beth and Kelly share the tale of Minik Wallace. Minik was brought to America's shores in 1897 as a boy along with five other Greenlanders to be put on display like a museum piece. And when you think of people as objects, it turns out as bad as you expect. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: “Caught in the Middle: The Tra...
Strange Country Ep. 158: Amelia Earhart
September 10, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 73.2 MBAmelia Earhart's disappearance is one of the greatest mysteries of the century. Listen today Dash Hounds as Beth and Kelly dive into who this tousled-hair woman really was, and what lead up to her last flight. There is mystery, love, and determination to prove that women can do anything! It’s a story worth telling and a life worth knowing. Enjoy readers, as always, listening is an act of love. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: Fleming, Candace. Amelia...
Strange Country Ep 157: John Murray Spear
September 03, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 76.8 MBYou may not have heard of John Murray Spear, but he ran with cool kids like Frederick Douglass and Victoria Woodhull, preaching for equality and against exploitation. So why isn't he in our history books? Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly discuss Spear's illustrious life and his quest to build a God Machine with blueprints provided in real-time by a dead Ben Franklin. This God Machine required a special kind of power, one that is likely why Spear has been erased and cast off to the mar...
Strange Country Ep. 157: John Murray Spear
September 03, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 76.8 MBYou may not have heard of John Murray Spear, but he ran with cool kids like Frederick Douglass and Victoria Woodhull, preaching for equality and against exploitation. So why isn't he in our history books? Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly discuss Spear's illustrious life and his quest to build a God Machine with blueprints provided in real-time by a dead Ben Franklin. This God Machine required a special kind of power, one that is likely why Spear has been erased and cast off to the mar...
Strange Country Ep.156: Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping
August 20, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 78.2 MBIt's hard to imagine a more beloved figure than Charles Lindbergh (pre-1939) so when his baby was kidnapped, it was like everybody's baby had been abducted. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about this "crime of the century" and also reminiscence about their three years on the air as the most beloved podcast (pre-1939). Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: “The American Experience | Lindbergh | Fallen Hero.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, ...
Strange Country Ep.155: Word of Faith Fellowship
August 13, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 70.9 MBAre you inflicted by a Strange Country demon? If so, this episode will provide the cure you need, a cure as beautiful as a hot dog stuck into a clam. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly take their dear dash hounds to Spindale, N.C., where parishioners of the Word of Faith get blasted to rid them of their demons, and are forbidden to play air guitar. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources or you will be inflicted by the plagiarism demon: Dias, Elizabeth....
Strange Country Ep. 154: J. Marion Sims
August 06, 2020 10:00 - 53 minutes - 61.3 MBDear Readers and Dashhounds, if you have ever suffered from VVF, we are so very sorry and are thankful you live in this Er-ah. But the history that led up to the medical advancement in treating VVF and basically the beginning of all gynecology work had terrible beginnings with one J. Marion Sims. Learn about him in today's episode and the women he took advantage of in trying to make a buck. We hope you learn about racism and its lasting affects in medicine. if you happen to laugh so hard you...
Strange Country Ep.153: Kentucky Meat Shower
July 30, 2020 10:00 - 52 minutes - 60.2 MBHold on, chicken littles, the sky isn't falling. It's just some pieces of meat. Wait--what? In 1876, pieces of beef fell from the Kentucky sky leaving some to wonder why and some to say "let me put this in my mouth." Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about meat storms and other strange weather phenomena. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: “Can It Rain Frogs, Fish, and Other Objects?” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/i...
Strange Country Ep.152: John Todd
July 23, 2020 10:00 - 56 minutes - 65.4 MBListen up, dear dash hounds, your reptilian overlords Beth and Kelly have an odd tale about the Illuminati, witchcraft, the apocalypse, and eternal damnation. Strange Country is talking conspiracies and includes a special Jack Chick readers theater! Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: Austin, Jon. “Bill Clinton Tried to Discover Truth about UFOs and JKF Murder – This Is What He Found.” Express.co.uk, Express.co.uk, 30 Jan. 2018, www.express.co.uk/news/...
Strange Country Ep. 151: Wanda Holloway
July 16, 2020 10:00 - 57 minutes - 65.6 MBSometimes we are so invested in our children's lives that we don't make the best choices. Like, say, listen to Betsy DeVos about reopening schools normally during a pandemic or hire someone to murder another mom. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about Wanda Holloway's dream deferred and desire to see her daughter be the cheerleader she never was regardless of the cost. Oh--that's right we can say irregardless now because 2020 is a never-ending hell scape. Theme music: Big White...
Strange Country Ep.150: Synanon
July 09, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 70.4 MBIf you're like us, you likely never heard of Synanon, but its tactics live on in "tough-love" drug rehabilitation programs. Synanon was founded in 1958 by Charles Dederich, and it was the first ever non-medical drug rehabilitation program. And then it became a cult. Join Beth and Kelly as they share the story of shaved heads, forced abortions and the origin story of one of Nancy Reagan's favorite programs. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: “Doris Gamb...
Strange Country Ep. 149: Annie Londonberry
July 02, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 70.5 MBAre you feeling a little trapped in your life these days? Surprisingly, Kelly and Beth are as well because masks and limited travel are your best bet at avoiding COVID. One of the few things that helps us feel a little free is a good, long bike ride. But if that is too arduous for you, fear not, you can imagine yourself peddling as you listen to this week’s episode about the famed Annie Londonberry (really Cohen Kopchovsky). A woman who said "screw the kids, I’m taking a ride...around the wo...
Strange Country Ep.148: Eugenics, Part II
June 25, 2020 10:00 - 57 minutes - 65.5 MBOne way to get rid of people was to petition to have them declared feeble-minded and locked away. That's what happened to 17-year-old Carrie Buck in 1924. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about the Supreme Court case, Buck v. Bell, that led to Buck's sterilization, and the sterilization of a voiceless many under the banner of eugenics. And hey, it's still on the books so. . . ugh. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: Amend, Alex. “From Eugeni...
Strange Country Ep. 147: Eugenics, Part I
June 18, 2020 10:00 - 57 minutes - 65.6 MBNot too long ago, America's elite thought they could stamp out the bad genes by closing our borders and sterilizing some people. This was the era--Er-ahh--of eugenics, the idea that people inherited traits like shiftlessness from their parents. The Nazis would take the eugenicists theories to their logical conclusion. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about the racism and classism underlying policies passed under the eugenics banner, which will make you cry out for more protoplasm...
Strange Country Ep. 146: Legionnaires Disease
June 11, 2020 10:00 - 58 minutes - 67.4 MBAs if it returning to work during a pandemic isn't worrisome enough, your building may be teeming with Legionella bacteria due to the stagnant water. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly discuss the latest scare and what gave it its name. In 1976, delegate from the American Legion met in Philadelphia for a conference. A few weeks later, 34 were dead from some mysterious virulent pneumonia. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: Honigsbaum, Mark. The Pan...
Strange Country Ep. 145: Emmett Till
June 04, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 70.6 MBWell Dash Hounds, it just keeps happening. We think maybe telling the stories of the past each week will enlighten us to become better humans. But really our little podcast reminds you each week that yes, history does repeat itself. And here we are together as a hurting nation and sick world, watching white racist men in power continue to abuse people and their power. This week Kelly and Beth tell the heartbreaking story of Emmett Till. It is important to know his story as new stories of rac...
Strange Country Ep. 144: Shark Attacks of 1916
May 28, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 69.1 MBAs beaches open up for the summer, remember there's more than COVID-19 to worry about. No, actually, that should be the main thing to worry about. Oh and sun cancer. While Strange County is talking about shark attacks, shark attacks are pretty rare. You have a better chance of having Trump grab you by your genitalia. But in the summer of 1916, a shark or sharks terrorized the Jersey Shore over 12 days. Scientists still don't know definitively what sparked it, but Beth and Kelly put forth a t...
Strange Country Ep. 143: Sidney Gottlieb
May 21, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 75.2 MBIs this a giant CIA experiment where we've all been dosed with a substance to make us think there's a pandemic? Sadly no, but in the 1950s, in an attempt to stay ahead of the Soviets, the CIA led mind-control experiments to see if we could break someone's brain. Who knew that only a coronavirus and a reality-tv-host-turned-presidential-nightmare were the keys to bringing this country to its knees. Join Beth and Kelly as they talk about the man behind MK-ULTRA, Sidney Gottlieb. Oh--and avoid ...
Strange Country Ep. 142: The Cutter Incident
May 07, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 73.3 MBThis week we will scare the shit out of you. Ah Dash Hounds, if our stories of strange, ghostly things never made your shoulder hair stand up, how about the idea that vaccines can take a really long time to get right. We will dive into the polio vaccine of 1955 and learn that sometimes problems can arise when doling out the new promising vaccine. Our intention is not to make you fearful, but to bring intelligence and insight and skepticism to anything that looks like it may be good. But you ...
Strange Country Ep.141: Don't Drink Bleach
April 30, 2020 10:00 - 50 minutes - 58.4 MBDon't drink bleach. That seems obvious like along the lines of don't go swimming when there's lightning or run for president when you have no interest in governing. But yet countless cleaning products had to take to social media discouraging users from drinking them because Donald Trump said it could knock out coronavirus. Where did he get this "tremendous" idea? Co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about the possible origins of Dr. Trump's most recent batshittery in today's episode. And please, don...
Strange Country Ep. 140: Quacks
April 23, 2020 10:00 - 59 minutes - 68.5 MBAmerica's "doctors" don't seem to be dispensing the best advice during the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Oz says opening up schools is appetizing. Dr. Phil says more people die crashing cars into swimming pools yet we don't close the country for that. And Dr. Drew downplayed the virus for weeks. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about these purveyors of quackery disguised as medical expertise, and Beth gets very real about her feelings. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousa...
Strange Country Ep.139: Circleville Letters
April 16, 2020 10:00 - 51 minutes - 58.7 MBIn 1977, Mary Gillespie received an anonymous letter that would throw her life into a tailspin. She wasn't the only Circleville, OH resident to get one. For nearly two decades, an anonymous scribe unsettled the minds of residents of that town with his or her poison pen. Join Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly as they take on this murky tale and test theories about who the anonymous writer could have been. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: Almazan...
Strange Country Ep. 138: Ted Williams
April 09, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 73.1 MBIt’s true baseball and pandemics do not mix well. But that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about strange baseball stories- like that of the Kid, Mr. Wonderful, Ted Williams. But people are complicated and not just wonderful- there is always a little more to the story. And Ted Williams is like everyone; complicated. And his head is frozen in a Cryogenic Lab in Arizona- so there is that. Listen as Beth and Kelly show the world how to podcast using social distancing, and remind you: no cruises. Be w...
Strange Country Ep. 137: Leper Colony
April 02, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 69 MBWhile in quarantine, enjoy another story about a forced quarantine, this time on the island of Molokai in Hawaii. In 1866, leprosy was labeled a crime and those who had it shipped off to die in exile. Join Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly as they discuss the deplorable conditions and the irrationality of fear. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: Adams, Cecil. “What Was the Deal with Jimmy Carter and the Killer Rabbit?” The Straight Dope, The Stra...
Strange Country Ep. 136: Christian Longo
March 26, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 69 MBTo get our minds off the mass murder some Republicans are willing to commit to boost the stock market, Strange Country will focus on another mass murderer who killed his entire family before flying to Cancun to impersonate a New York Times reporter. Join Beth and Kelly on the strange topic of Christian Longo who murdered his wife and three young children in 2001. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: Epps, Garrett. “The Real Christian Longo Is Far More De...
Strange Country Ep. 135: COVID-19
March 19, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 69 MBIf there's anything that makes this a strange country, it's a pandemic. Strange Country co-hosts discuss the one topic that is affecting all of us--improper use of toilet paper. Oh and COVID-19. Beth rails against the Trump Administration's incompetent response (SHOCKER!) and Kelly puts her optimistic spin on things. We are all in this together, dash hounds. Stay safe and stay in. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: Achenbach, Joel, et al. “Trump Budget...